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Grapefruits help reduce cholesterol

A grapefruit a day - particularly the red variety - can help keep heart disease at bay, according to a new study by Israeli researchers.

16 Feb 2006

Anti-malarials most effective in lupus patients genetically at risk of high levels of TNF-alpha

Anti-malarial drugs are most effective in people with lupus who are genetically predisposed to high levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha and low levels of the cytokine IL-10.

16 Feb 2006

Adverse drug events believed to be among the leading causes of mortality in the United States

Less than 1 percent of outpatients who received medication in 2002 were prescribed a medication that violated a prescription drug's black box warning, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

16 Feb 2006

Discovery of a novel system for on-demand drug delivery

A University of Illinois scientist studying how membranes wrinkle has discovered a novel system for on-demand drug delivery.

16 Feb 2006

Study identifies compounds that overcome a specific type of resistance to chemotherapeutic-induced apoptosis

Treatment of human cancer is often impeded when cancer cells develop resistance to drugs that are designed to induce a type of programmed cell death called apoptosis.

16 Feb 2006

Taking aim at one of mankind's most common diseases

A detailed structural picture of a molecule that plays a key role in activating the Epstein Barr Virus in human cells has now been obtained by researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the Institute of Molecular and Structural Virology (IVMS), associated with the University Joseph Fourier and the CNRS, in Grenoble.

16 Feb 2006

Grapefruit reduces risk from heart disease

Heart disease patients who eat one grapefruit daily can significantly reduce the levels of cholesterol in their blood in comparison to patients who do not eat the fruit, a new study has found. Chronic high blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease.

16 Feb 2006

A new way of recognising DNA

Scientists led by Mike Hannon at the University of Birmingham and Miquel Coll at the Spanish Research Council in Barcelona have discovered a new way that drugs can attach themselves to DNA, which is a crucial step forward for researchers who are developing drugs to combat cancer and other diseases.

16 Feb 2006

Most Americans don't know about Health Savings Accounts

A new nationally representative poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines what the public took away from President Bush’s State of the Union address, finding that the health messages in the speech have yet to register with most Americans.

16 Feb 2006

Stealthyx Therapeutics and Cancer Research Technology announce co-development partnership for tumour-targeted therapy

Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the specialist oncology development and commercialisation company, and Stealthyx Therapeutics, the disease targeting drug company spin out of Queen Mary, University of London have entered into an agreement to co-develop Stealthyx’s proprietary drug delivery platform, Prothyx.

16 Feb 2006

New FDA report says earlier meetings w/FDA make drug review process more efficient

The FDA has released a new report that takes carefully examines the way the agency reviews applications for drugs and biologics that have not previously been approved by the FDA.

16 Feb 2006

WHO to take action against fake drug racket

The World Health Organization (WHO) has appealed for international action against fake and mislabelled medicines.

16 Feb 2006

The pros and cons of new anti-obesity drug

According to researchers at New York's Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, an anti-obesity drug that turns off the same brain circuits which trigger the marijuana-induced hunger pangs, appears to produce sustained weight loss among patients.

16 Feb 2006

British woman loses Herceptin court battle

A mother of three in the UK suffering from the early-stage of an aggressive form of breast cancer, has lost her high court battle to force her health authority to pay for the potentially life-saving drug Herceptin.

16 Feb 2006

Researchers capture the electrical activity of a single sperm cell

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have, for the first time, captured the electrical activity of a single sperm cell. The technically difficult maneuver, reported in Nature, allows the first measurement of the currents that flow across the sperm's outer membrane.

14 Feb 2006

Researchers capture the electrical activity of a single sperm cell

14 Feb 2006

Panorama programme lead to significant increase in adverse paroxetine reports

The number of adverse reactions reported by UK doctors to the antidepressant paroxetine - often know by its brand name Seroxat - rose by 61 per cent after three editions of the BBC's award-winning current affairs programme Panorama explored increasing concerns about the drug.

14 Feb 2006

Study provides animal model of depression

A Florida State University scientist used a gene transfer technique to block the expression of a gene associated with clinical depression in a new study of mice that could lead to better treatment of human beings with this condition.

14 Feb 2006

Potential universal strategy for treating drug addiction

An international research team led by the University of Saskatchewan has discovered a signaling pathway in the brain involved in drug addiction, together with a method for blocking its action, that may point to a single treatment strategy for most addictions.

14 Feb 2006

Stem cell injections may help those with severe peripheral artery disease

Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have begun a unique clinical trial using stem cell injections as a treatment that could offer hope to tens of thousands of people who face sores, ulcers and even amputations due to severe peripheral artery disease.

14 Feb 2006